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Head to head: Cesc Fabregas v Steve Sidwell

By Adam Clark

With the wealth of talent that has risen through Arsenal's
ranks in recent seasons it was inevitable that some players would
go on to prove their worth elsewhere.

Jerome Thomas has done so at Charlton. Moritz Volz at Fulham.
Jermaine Pennant is now with Liverpool. Blackburn's David
Bentley could be on the verge of an England call-up and Jay
Bothroyd even went to Serie A with Perugia. But perhaps the most
impressive of Arsenal's departed youngsters has been
Reading's Steve Sidwell.

The 24 year-old midfielder is now the heartbeat of the Royals
side which has produced a brand of highly-entertaining - and
successful - football in their incredible inaugural season in the
Premiership.

Arsenal's home may have changed but on Saturday Sidwell will
return to the Club where he learnt his trade, hoping to add to a
season already littered with highlights.

Opposing him will be player who did come through in his central
midfield position - at just 16 years of age. Cesc Fabregas may not
yet have completed his teenage years but his importance to Arsenal
is not in dispute. Still just 19 the Spaniard has already featured
in two Cup Finals and a World Cup.

But how have both Sidwell and Fabregas truly performed this
season? We analysed the statistics to see who might have the edge
on Saturday.

Fabregas, widely revered for his passing ability is actually
behind Sidwell in terms of distribution. The Reading man has found
a target with an impressive 62 per cent of his passes in the
Premiership while Cesc has recorded a respectable 55 per cent
success rate.

In fairness to the Spaniard he has attempted to find a team-mate
on 47 more occasions and has also been the king of the killer pass.
Testament to this is the 10 goals he has created for Arsenal so far
this term. Sidwell is a little way behind with six assists.

Something Fabregas hasn't provided is goals. A brace against
Dinamo Zagreb at the beginning of the campaign suggested he might
improve on last year's return of three Premiership goals. So
far however he has drawn a blank.

Sidwell certainly hasn't. The slight midfielder has found
the target four times and a recent double at Aston Villa was
completed with a finish of the highest quality.

The top scorers chart doesn't tell the whole story however.
In fact Fabregas has had more attempts, more of which have been on
target, and more of which have been blocked. Of the Spanish
teenager's 59 efforts on goal, only 20 have meandered off
target while 10 have been stopped en route. Add another two that
have come off the woodwork and one begins to think he's been
plain unlucky.

In comparison Sidwell has managed 53 shots on goal and seen 14
hit the target, three blocked and another cannon off the post.

Finally, an area in which they're actually fairly
even is dribbling. So far this term Fabregas has taken on an
opponent on 27 occasions and produced an end product 17 times.
Sidwell on the other hand has made 21 runs and only relinquished
possession on eight occasions.

So there you have it. It's a topsy-turvy set of
statistics and it's hard to predict who will have the edge this
weekend. One thing is certain - both men have benefited from their
years on Arsenal's training pitches.

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